They may not purr like a well-tuned diesel, but Pet Valu has added two brand-new, whisper-quiet Volvo VNR Electric semi trucks to its growing logistics fleet as part of the company’s ongoing effort to transform its supply chain into one that’s more efficient, and more sustainable.

Pet Valu is one of Canada’s leading specialty retailers, offering a wide variety of pet food, toys, and and other fur-and-feather friendly supplies to keep pets healthy and happy. Part of the company’s efforts to deliver on that happy/healthy promise is in reducing ground-level air pollution, and these new, zero-tailpipe emission electric semi trucks will help Pet Valu achieve that vision.

“At Pet Valu, we are committed to continuously improving how we serve devoted pet lovers and their pets,” explains Nico Weidel, chief supply chain officer, Pet Valu. “Each electric delivery truck represents an opportunity to avoid consuming over 25,000 liters of diesel fuel or over 62 tonnes of CO2 (emissions) per year. We’re excited to explore how these trucks perform and assess the potential for further electrification of our delivery fleet in the future.”

Pet Valu spec’ed out its new Class 8 Volvo VNR Electric day cab trucks with the 565 kWh six-battery pack configuration, offering route drivers an operating range of up to 442 kilometers (about 275 miles) per charge. And, while Volvo’s VNRs are capable of ultra-fast charging, these trucks will power up overnight overnight at the company’s Surrey distribution center an a newly installed 120 kW charger.

In addition to deploying the trucks, the Volvo Trucks team worked closely with Pet Valu to identify and secure additional funding opportunities to help offset the high up-front cost of the battery-electric semis, including federal (Canadian) and provincial incentive programs Clean BC – Go Electric and iMHZEV (incentives for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicles).

“We are excited to see Pet Valu taking the initiative in the Canadian pet supply industry by adopting Volvo’s VNR Electric trucks,” says Matthew Blackman, managing director for Canada, Volvo Trucks North America. “As they venture into sustainable transportation, this effort is expected to not only strengthen their supply chain but also help support a healthier planet, one ‘purr-fectly’ quiet kilometer at a time.”

And, yes: we made the same joke. (I stand by it.)

Electrek’s Take

Pet Valu joins a growing list of companies – and they’re already adding to the tally of tens of millions of all-electric, zero emission miles driven by Volvo customers. By the time Volvo rolls out its next-generation VNL and FH electric semis later this year, they will represent company’s third generation of Class 8 EVs, and will be backed by more than 100,000,000 miles of real-world data collected by thousands of trucks across dozens of companies.

Can anyone catch up?

SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo Trucks.

The Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore has announced a first for the contemporary American maritime industry: a battery-electric rail car mover that can organize the rail yard without dirtying up the air around it.

Built by the Marmon Rail’s Italian Zephir division, the LOK 16.150E model rail car mover features an 80-volt rechargeable battery pack sending current to a pair of 40 kW (about 50 hp) high-torque brushless motors. That may not sound like a lot in a world of 650 hp Kias and 1000 hp Teslas, but it’s enough to generate a drawbar pull (read: towing force) of more than 39,000 lbs. … all while generating zero tailpipe emissions.

“At this terminal, the asset will be used to help with intermodal cargo exchange,” said Matt Stahl, Mid-Atlantic terminal general manager for global shipping gurus Wallenius Wilhelmsen, who operate the Zephir. “We can do it with our own asset, without any assistance.”

Wallenius Wilhelmsen is using the Zephir to move rail cars loaded with heavy lift, farm and construction equipment, and military cargo within the Dundalk Marine Terminal, and claims it will remove over 180 tons of harmful carbon emissions per year.

You can check out the promotional video released by the Port of Baltimore to celebrate the Zephir’s deployment, below, then let us know what you think in the comments.

Electrek’s Take

Historically-conscious readers already know that the key word in that first paragraph is contemporary, because the Zephir is very much a case of “what’s old is new again,” according to Freightwaves’ Stuart Chirls. Chirls explains that the Zephir, “harks back [sic] to battery-powered railcar movers built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1912, rubber-tired ‘locomotives’ used to switch freight cars around the narrow streets of the Baltimore waterfront on track curvature too tight for standard motive power.”

If you want to learn more about the Pennsylvania Railroads’ 100-year lead on electric rail car switcher technology, check out this article on Railfan, which includes the photos below plus a whole lot more.

Don’t miss: they had license plates!

Rubber Tired Switchers

SOURCES | IMAGES: Port of Baltimore, via Freightwaves, Railfan.

When it comes to oddities of the electric vehicle variety, it doesn’t take much to pique my interest. If it’s got an electric motor and a funky shape, I’m down to clown. But being an electric bicycle guy through and through, anytime we can work some good ol’ pedaling action into the mix, I’m all the happier. And this week’s edition of the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week sure tickles my fancy!

If Teslas are too mainstream for you, but Fred Flinstone’s car is a bit too much effort, then I think I’ve found the perfect compromise. This electric bike-car offers everything its name promises.

It’s got pedals like a bike, along with a set of handlebars for steering and a bicycle seat for keeping you the perfect amount of uncomfortable. But it’s also got the enclosed convenience of a car, shielding riders from the rain and sun, though not from the curious looks of passersby. And with an electric bicycle motor, you don’t have to burn through your entire lunch just pedaling this brick down the block.

Of course, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. And I’m sure the appearance will be divisive, with some finding it charming and others… less so. But more than just looks, this thing is about utility.

I’d say the design is perfect for anyone who has ever said, “Give me the environmental friendliness of an electric bicycle but with the turning radius of a school bus.” Finally, a vehicle that lets you feel superior to cyclists and drivers simultaneously while enjoying the camaraderie of neither.

Combining the aerodynamics of a garden shed and the aesthetics of a cute dumpster, this electric bike car is likely as hard to get rolling as it is to park. But it’s got one main thing going for it: an insane amount of enclosed storage space that other e-bikes could only dream of.

Behind those double doors is your own mobile storage unit, and one that has every right to use the bicycle lane – at least in cities that extend such rights to four-wheeled bicycles.

To put numbers on it, this thing offers a massive 1.8 cubic meters of storage space in back. I’m not sure the best way to describe that in freedom units. Does 63 cubic feet mean anything to anyone? 475 gallons? A micro-studio apartment in NYC?

Either way, you could just about turn the rear box into a tiny camper – though it wouldn’t be the first bicycle-based RV we’ve seen.

As far as performance goes, it’s got a top speed of 31 km/h, or a hair under 20 mph. Considering it probably has the crash-test rating of a cardboard box, I’m not sure I’d want to go that fast too often.

The benefit of crashing on a standard bicycle is you get to separate from it fairly quickly. Crashing in this thing makes me feel like I’d just pinball around inside the cab until I’ve become one with the handlebars.

Of course, the ideal environment for something like this electric bike-car is not mixing it up with traffic. I’d much rather stick to the bike lane or bicycle highways – though I’m not sure how my fellow cyclists would welcome me there. Actually, I’m not sure they’d even consider me a fellow cyclist.

So alas, I’m not sure exactly where I’d use it. And at $3,000, that’s a hefty chunk of change for a vehicle that would have a hard time fitting into our world. But even though its place is hard to understand, I’ll forever love that things like this exist.

Just please don’t go and try to buy something like this from Alibaba. Yes, I know I’m not a good example and rarely take my own advice. But this is a, “do what I say, not what I do” situation, indeed.